Registration frenzy for candidates as Kenya election deadline nears
Nairobi — Outside Lucy Ndungu’s Nairobi office, the queue of angry, aspiring politicians snakes down the stairs, out of the door and into the adjoining beer garden as hundreds line up to register as independent candidates for Kenya’s elections. Ndungu, the country’s registrar of political parties, says unprecedented numbers were registering as independents as political parties raced to process appeals from failed candidates before a May 8 deadline, and her office is getting overwhelmed. "It is a record number of people and we did not budget for this," she says, as six police officers keep order as sweating candidates clutching folders of papers jostle for position. The election takes place on August 8, when veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga will challenge incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, and Kenyans will also choose their next parliamentarians and local representatives. Devolution of some powers to county level under Kenyatta’s presidency, and the associated access to lu...
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